Freddy R. Troya

9.0

Gérard Bertrand – Orange Gold
Grenache Blanc / Chardonnay / Viognier / Muscat / Gewürztraminer 2023
IGP Pays d’Oc – Languedoc-Roussillon, France 🇫🇷

Overview
A modern French take on orange wine, blending 40% Chardonnay, 30% Grenache Blanc, 15% Viognier, 10% Muscat, and 5% Gewürztraminer. Crafted from organic grapes, this is a skin-contact white that leans more on finesse and aromatic precision than the typical oxidative, apricot-heavy profile.

Aromas & Flavors
Almond skin, citrus peel, orange blossom, white tea, and delicate florals. Subtle spice and aromatic lift from Muscat and Gewürztraminer, with a fresh citrus-driven core rather than dried fruit dominance.

Mouthfeel
Light-to-medium body with a gently textured grip from skin contact. Bright, lively acidity keeps it lifted and clean, with a refined, slightly phenolic edge and a crisp, elegant finish.

Food Pairings
Grilled seafood, Mediterranean dishes, roasted vegetables, spiced couscous, sushi, or soft cheeses. Also shines with aromatic cuisines (Thai, Moroccan, Middle Eastern).

Verdict
A beautifully balanced and approachable introduction to orange wines with a French touch. Less about power, more about nuance and versatility, an exploratory bottle that rewards curiosity.

Did You Know?
Orange wines are not made from oranges, rather, they are white wines fermented with their grape skins, a technique dating back thousands of years to Georgia, giving them structure, color, and complexity.

🍷 Personal Pick
A gateway orange wine that shifts perspective, less about bold fruit, more about aromatics, texture, and elegance. A learning moment in a glass. — 4 months ago

John Tan

9.3

Sanshugong.

12% alc. Margalagua is a charismatic parcel of the Taganan vineyard comprising 100- to 300-year-old vines on a uniquely iron-rich seam of rocky volcanic soil. This treacherously steep vineyard site is planted with a mix of mostly indigenous red grapes, such as Negramoll and Listán Negro, with a small amount of Listán Blanco. This parcel is about elegance and depth rather than power: due to the silky character of the wines, it is vinified differently with a much longer (30- to 45-day) maceration and 100% stem-inclusion, yielding a darker, bolder, richer wine.
[Vintage 2018:] “This vineyard has been vinified and bottled separately since 2012 because it has a very strong personality, not surprisingly, because it's one of the most fascinating and exceptional vineyards I've ever seen in my life. . . This is a translucent bright ruby color, and it's aromatic, floral, spicy and mineral, expressive and super fresh, because of the year and because they have new cooler vineyards. It has lots of notes of violets and lilies. The flavors are pungent, precise, clean, symmetric and very elegant, with refined tannins and a tasty, somewhat salty finish. This is the best wine they have produced to date. Truly word-class.” WA 98 (Luis Gutiérrez) — 4 years ago

ESF

8.9

Bit surprised at how light & thin - also fairly austere & angular, nice structure & precise w/snappy acidity and clean finish. Aromatically muted w/apple skin, quince, lanolin, some floral & faint citrus. — 5 years ago

MaJ CappS

9.0

Dusty cellar fruit on the nose -

This wears away with dark fruits - unsweetened blackberry jam, currant, kirsch, skin tannin, very subtle acidity and heaps of tabaco and CBD oil on the end.
WA for the win. Every time. — 6 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

Pale Lemon in colour. Aromas of Talc and citrus with a little herb. The palate has filled out somewhat from its austere acidic youth, in fact the acid has softened but still enough there if you wanted to keep cellaring for a few years. A quality Riesling from an excellent district for Riesling in Frankland River WA. Pristine clean flavours - purity is the key. Tasted another bottle 131 weeks later on 4th September 2022. Tasting quite lean after the Fat Bastard Chardonnay Ted brought last Sunday. This is a great Riesling with a big future. No kerosene aromas. Aromas of talc and limes. Still M plus acidity. Had another on 6th June 2023. Starting to develop some paraffin notes on the nose. Still mainly talc and lime. Have 2 bottles left - next in a year’s time. — 6 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.2

So clean & pure showing lemon lime, apple skin, mineral & racy acid. — 7 years ago

sasha

8.9

Cecilia,WA. Fresh citrus w stone druit, clean, dry finish — 2 years ago

Pinotman /// Andreas

9.8

E&M’s new top whites (with new labels) are pure genius - Cellar tasting 05/15/2024. This is skin contact Pinot Gris from old vines. Orange but clean and filtered no funk at all. This is simply the best I ever had. Ridiculous pretty amber color, quince jam, tart apricot, port wine and stone fruits. I am addicted. Florian Moll is ‘the man’. Unless the Michelin ⭐️ ‘s gobble this up (I heard from Florian dishes are being designed for this wine). — 2 years ago

Peter Quinsey

8.9

Very dry and clean. Minerals, light florals, grapefruit. Excellent pair to smoked trout. — 4 years ago

with Karen

Ron from VA

9.0

At 10.5yrs old, this private label WF cab is, well, straight forward and touch underwhelming. The fruit is clean and does trend toward WA state pedigree, but the power and tannic resolve have fallen short by the order of one magnitude. Very pleasant nevertheless…and completely fine for Tuesday burgers ;) — 5 years ago

Matthew Cohen

9.1

Nose. Pleasant. Breeze over a lake. Elegantly mineral

Palate mineral. Elegant tropicality. Harmonious. Very good. Some green apple skin grip. Very fresh and clean.

Nice clean apply finish. — 5 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.1

Manni is THE advocate for Kerner - an under the radar variety that I’d describe as Riesling with a figure. His clocks in at 13.5%, so you’d expect some richness but it comes out a clean translucent silvery green skin. It looks mute but sings. Grapefruit and lychee and white flowers and white pepper too. — 6 years ago

Derrick Montiel

8.9

My 3rd bottle this year... one of my favorite skin contact whites. Very clean minimal funk. — 8 years ago

Pinotman /// Andreas

9.3

A major leap here. Clean and crisp. Some skin contact. But this is not your average Orange wine. Filtered lightly. No sediment at all! Apricot, mandarine, plenty of acid, big and broad with a lot of body. A little more rustic then their new top of the line whites with new labels. — 2 years ago

Tree Kilpatrick

9.0

Label is well done if a bit standard. Like the cone and needle border. Tamarack is my brother’s middle name (aka larch), so I had to buy this one. Dark plum skin color. Aromas are good. Dark fruit juices and sauces mixed with woodsy freshness. Slightest hint of red meat too. Flavors are chewy, fleshy and earthy. Cherry Coke and blackberry pastry. Maybe a purple mulberry too. A little anise/fennel/licorice root. Or maybe that’s sarsaparilla. Plenty of tannin to keep the fruit flavors from running wild. Just enough wood to give it a forestry feel. This is a nice structured Merlot from WA. Not quite as dynamic or complex as the weighty bottle implies, but it’s still a great bottle. — 4 years ago

David Kline

9.5

Young, but accessible. Gun flint nose is instantly seductive descending like smoke onto brioche and twists of impossibly minute lemon peel, lime and tangerine piths, underripe pineapple freshness, Marcona almond, toasted sesame, chalky chunks have absorbed the smoke, and fallen citrus celebrates its rebirth. Lemon pith that oozes lemon skin oils like dewdrop diamonds. Incredible minerality that crystallizes into spines of grapefruit, dandelion, dried gooseberry, and marigold. Shiny, bright, crystal clean, and revelatory. Amazing compilation of parts that remains suspended like a chandelier in ethereal weightlessness.


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Morgan Reese

9.0

Tasted like straight lemon juice first sip. Less so now, but still very tart. Andrew says he likes and is very crisp and clean. Drinking but think it’s just too sour for me. Bar and garden recommendation. — 5 years ago

with Andrew

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

The one and only. One of the best values in all of German wine. Stunning nose. Smells as deep as a GG. Just insane. The aromas of the fruit are so clean and so precise. Just amazing. Peach skin, peach flesh, apricot, nougat, caramel aromas show this is baby Hergott. It’s so precise and so clean but also nuanced and deep. Just a stunning nose. Glorious spice and deep deep minerals. Airy. So so killer. Blind I’d say GG. Wow. I love this wine. So so salty in 2019! U la la! Juicy and so concentrated but elegant and energetic. Sappy peach and apricot fruits on the finish. But also laser like, rapier like minerality. Amazingly pure and deep. So balanced and serene. A zen like experience. Long finish that alternates between fruit, saline and gorgeous mineral. Amazing mouthfeel and purity. Just a stunning Molsheim. Clean finish that just echoes and slowly dissipates. So beautiful.

After some air wow. Herbs on the nose. Hit of honey and the minerals start to waft. Stunning balance and freshness and complex spice and ridiculous fruit on the finish. This is amazing. — 6 years ago

Geoff Watts

9.0

Crisp and very effervescent, green apple skin, grapefruit, dry clean finish — 7 years ago

Rhonely Boy

9.2

Clear, light lemon yellow

Clean, medium intense notes of white floral, stones, clay, lemon, beeswax. Soft and pretty nose.

Dry, medium acid body and alcohol (13.2% ABV). Flavors of lemon, mild apricot, mineral. Finish is a medium+

Very good, and would love to revisit this vintage in the future. Brie & apricot pizza.

Would be interested to see a Roussanne+Marsanne collaboration with Donkey & Goat (Skin Fermented Marsanne)

NOTES: “Most of the wine was fermented and aged in a clay Amphorae with the remainder in barrel.” — 8 years ago